Bubbles September - October 2016 by Atlam Sub Aqua Club

T HE A T LA M SUBA QUA C LUB E -M A G A Z I N E

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 2016 Atlam Committee Members :Joseph Azzopardi President guzeppi56@gmail.com Anton Debattista Secretary andeb@go.net.mt Klaus Farrugia Treasurer klafster@gmail.com Alex Arena P.R.O. Victor Fabri Diving Officer vfabri@gmail.com Alvin Pace Activity Officer tamsinjane@yahoo.com George Mugliett Activity Officer

IN THIS ISSUE

page

Editor’s Note | Salpa Foto Fish Hunting Comp. 2 British Airways - Atlam Photo Competition 3/8 Species Page - Conger eel - Edward Vella A Trip to the Red Sea - Part 5 - David Agius

10/13

66 Baby Turtles Hatch - Elaine Cutajar

Help a Turtle in Distress - Nature Trust Malta

16 17 18 19 20 21

Best Photo BA - Atlam U/W Photo Competition

Photo by: George Mugliett See all placings and competitors photos pages 3 to 8.

www.atlam.org

The Editorial

Safari 2016 Salpa Fish Foto Hunting

Dear readers, as announced and presented in the previous issue of Bubbles, the Boat Dives are being reported pictorially. We try to select those pictures which will bring back immediate memories to those (divers and not) who were present on the trusty Atlantis II during that particular boat dive, and which will be of interest and also perhaps be of such interest to get the viewer to participate in the coming boat dives! Of course for this new boat dive section presentation to be successful, a steady stream of photos is required. Luckily Atlam currently has a good number of divers who carry cameras – in fact myself being one of them – I consider my camera to be an integral part of the diving equipment. When for some reason or other, I have to dive without my camera (and these dives have been thankfully few), I feel that something important is missing. Sharing ones experiences after a dive adds greatly to that dive’s enjoyment, and the exchange of photos is surely a prime method to achieve this. Still on the theme of underwater photography – there were two competitions held during these two months – the first on the 21st September at Marsascala. As most of you will surely remember, last year an edition of the Safari Foto Sub competitions, (organised in league fashion in Italy by FIPSAS), with the participation of strong Spanish and Italian teams plus a good Maltese representation from Atlam SAC was greatly enjoyed. This has in fact sparked off the idea of holding our own Safari Foto Sub competition – graciously sponsored by SalpaSub of Marsascala – and it was great fun! More about this on this same page and future issues. The second competition, as ‘announced’ by the this Bubbles’ cover is the now traditional BA Atlam competition held between the 29th and the 30th October – full results and participating shots on the cover from page 3 Part one of the competition consisted of a night dive, with part two on the following day. Here it must be reminded that on the night, a strong North Easterly was wreaking havoc on the other side of the island. It was perfectly safe at Wied iz-Zurrieq, but the weather conditions were not exactly conducive to go diving – so determination was definitely a requirement for the participating divers…. The awards night (including a super fenkata) for the above competitions was then held at the club house on the 4th November. The committee, also organised a Barbecue on the 7th September and a Majjalata on the 22nd October. At the time of writing, the sea temperature has noticeably gone down from the summer climax, but still well within the comfort zone of the 5mm wetsuit, but the dives with thicker neoprene are now not so far away. Keep diving!

Edward Vella evella@onvol.net

Safari 2016 Salpa Fish Foto Hunting 1 Guzi Azzopardi - 2nd Joseph Azzopardi Falzon - 3rd Mario Micallef st

JOIN ATLAM SUBAQUA CLUB and share the fun & experience Activities for Divers: • Shore Dives • Boat Dives • Night Dive • Diving Excursions Abroad • U/W Photo Competitions • Lectures on various subjects • Nitrox Courses. • Free e-magazine

Activities for the whole family • Weekly Club Nights & Bar • Barbecues • Majjalata • Pasta Nights • Boat Parties • Gozo Diving Breaks • Camping on Comino and other places.

British Airways vs Atlam UnderWater Photographic Competition held on 29 th & 30th October 2016

First Place - Roberto Faro (Atlam) These and the following photos are the entries of all the competitors in category set of three . (Fish - Non Fish and Macro ) The photos have not been retouched, cropped or enhanced in any way. They are being presented as the photographers shot them and oriented to the photographers wish. Only 1st, 2nd , 3rd and best image places have been announced the remaining photos are displayed according to the competitors entry registration number.

Second Place: Guzi Azzopardi (Atlam)

Third Place: Veronica Busuttil (Atlam)

Best Image : George Mugliett (Atlam)

Joseph Azzopardi Falzon (Atlam)

George Mugliett (Atlam)

Geoff Bowen (BA)

William Hewitt (B.A.)

Mario Mula (Atlam)

Species Page Research by Edward Vella

Conger Eel (Gringu) Conger conger

To local divers, the mention of the word eel, brings to mind, probably the more common moray eel, and then the second mentioned, would more probably be the European conger eel (Conger conger), or as it is known in Maltese, the Gringu. These two species share an eel like shape, and belong to the order Anguilliformes, but are then classified into different sub-orders. Conger eels belong to the Congroidei. There are similarities however, they both come out from their holes at night to hunt. They are nocturnal predators mainly feeding on fish, squid, cuttlefish, crabs and shrimps, although conger eels are thought to scavenge on dead and rotting fish. Another similarity is that their skin is entirely without scales – and both are not to be trifled with since they can turn very nasty! The European Conger, actually has the distinction of being the heaviest eel of them all - the heaviest eel in the world – several moray eel species can in fact exceed the conger in length, but do not weigh as much. The average sized ‘gringu’ is 1,5 metres, and the max size is given as 3 metres. These 3 meter specimens can weigh up to 110kg.

However, while researching this fish, I came across an article in the British newspaper, ‘The Telegraph’ (http:// www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11606526/ Giant-conger-eel-caught-off-British-coast.html) where it was reported that a 20 foot (6.15 metre!) conger eel was caught by a fisherman. The pictures are impressive to say the least... The life cycle is remarkable. Conger eel females only lay their eggs (spawn) once in their lifetime, and this they do after their bodies undergo a remarkable transformation which can happen from age 5 to 10 year. At some point, the reproductive organs of both males and females start to increase in size and at the same time, their skeleton reducing in mass – until finally they stop feeding altogether (their teeth actually drop off) - this is when they head out to make the long migration to spawning grounds. There is some dispute as to where these spawning grounds are. For example specimens living along Atlantic coasts, it is thought that conger eels start their life in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean – in what is called the Sargasso Sea.

Photo: Edward Vella

This is an area in the ‘eye’ of ocean currents, and is therefore always calm. The surrounding currents deposit weeds (and now also plastic and other flotsam), and provide an environment ideal for the conger (and other eel species) to lay their eggs with the weeds providing a level of protection for the larvae to grow enough to start on their way back to European waters. It is thought that it may also spawn in the eastern North Atlantic, around the Azores. Of course, it follows that the adult females have made the long journey – which is in fact the end of the line for the adult females . For Mediterranean specimens, there is a known spawning near the Island of Sardinia, but some specimens have been tracked exiting from the Mediterranean into the Atlantic . And finally a word of warning – this is can be a dangerous and ferocious fish, especially if provoked – there are several reports of aggression on divers, some even claimed to be unprovoked. Therefore caution is better exercised before poking a camera into a conger eel den.

Next Species

Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Caretta caretta - Fekruna tal-Bahar P L E A S E S E N D P H OTO S

A Trip to the Red Sea • In my last article for Bubbles July/August, I described the awesomeness of SS Thistlegorm and described the first two dives. Still eager for more time on this Kid’s Toy Box, Day 4 of our trip found divers even more willing to jump in the water as fast as they can…

Discovering SS Thislegorm’s Holds and other wrecks...

PA R

Article & photos by David Agius

SS Thistlegorm - The Holds Thankfully, this morning the current abated a little and although present, it was not annoying (comparatively, it felt like the current on the Um el Faroud in the afternoon) Since the boat had not moved, diving teams again descended via the mooring line conveniently moored from the deck of our live-aboard down to the Starboard mid-section of the SS Thistlegorm and this time, we went straight for the treasure chest! As described in my earlier article, this ship went down with a whole range of Trucks, Cars, Motorcycles, Locomotives, their trains, guns and other equipment. Every other corner in the spacious and in most areas, still nicely organised, was full of much needed war equipment for the Allies’ forces in Egypt which however, made it only to the bottom of the sea after a journey of thousands of miles from Glasgow, just a few hundred miles shy of its port of call.

SS Thistlegorm Motor bike

Obviously, the Motorcycles and Trucks get the most gleaming attention from the divers, but the together with the rest of the equipment, with a little imagination, one can easily imagine how important this cargo was. The Steam locomotives are the only items which fell off the ship as they were loaded on the deck, and some items, like an armoured tank are still on the wreck though on its head. In this dive, our aim was to explore as much of the shipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s middle and lower deck as possible, but one has to remember that the part of the stern was severely damaged due to explosions on board and thus mostly the front is well accessible. 75 years at the bottom of the Red Sea have also not been too kind but some unneeded damage is actually being done on a daily basis due to the way boats have to moor to the ship, sometimes also due to negligence or extreme need when guides are mooring boats in strong currents. One can easily find online specific examples of areas of the ship damaged due to this and every diver with a passion for wrecks shou ry facilities are put in place to save the SS Thistlegorm from further unneeded damage. The light on this early morning dive provided also some good opportunities for using light coming in from the open holds to take some natural light shots inside the wrecks and quite a lot could be admired without needing artificial lighting. The wreck, in other areas like the captainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cabin (still complete with its bath) is pretty well lit up and thus, when considering depth, makes up for a dive that you wish never ends albeit with extreme sadness, it had to. Au revoir SS Thistlegorm, hope to see you again soon! SS Thistlegorm rifles

SS Thistlegorm trucks.

The Rosalie Moller

including glass fish, lionfish (loads of them on deck), many groupers, nudibranchs and at one point, a large shoal of amberjacks. I saw also a slipper lobster but unfortunately this was an empty shell L

We steamed off from the SS Thistlegorm for a short while to visit a wreck very much connected to the SS Thistlegorm’s sinking as it was sunk only two days later in October 1941 whilst it was also awaiting passage into the Suez Canal at a place which was considered a “Safe” anchorage. Unfortunately for the Allies, the presumption of safety made them both sitting ducks to German Heinkel bombers that left from Crete and attacked at night.

The dive was relatively short and even with nitrox, me and my buddy ended the dive with deco almost in double digits (not a great idea in a place where the closest chamber is 12hrs away by boat) but with light tanks, we made it back on the boat. I think this dive is underestimated a bit due to its more famous preceding wreck, but should one be prepared to make a technical dive, this would be an ideal wreck to visit here.

The Rosalie Moller was the deepest wreck we were going to visit during this trip as she lies on a sand seabed of 40+ metres. The uppermost bits of the deck starts about 28m and thus, our nitrox mixes were going to prove beneficial but decompression was going to be hard to miss having. The Rosalie Moller is pretty large as a wreck as well, so doing just a round of the ship was not going to be possible. Our dive again was directly onto the ship that to a permanently attached mooring line on the ship which is much better condition than the Thistlegorm. Unfortunately, visibility was unusually low for this wreck, with a max of about 20m compared to the Red Sea’s usual 40m. No trucks and motorcycles either because this ship was carrying coal instead. The ship still proved to be full of life, with many fish on the actual wreck,

The Rosalie Moller Bow

The Rosalie Moller Bridge

Gubal Island and The Barge Our boat moved again to another site, Gubal Island. In a nice shallow bay, our next target dives (after lunch and midafternoon nap) were planned to be shallow to make up for the deeper dives we did the day before. At only about 15m in the deepest depth, this dive briefing described for us a site with remains of a more modern small wreck whose origin was unknown, with only the hull remaining which points to it having had a wooden superstructure. It is called the Barge but may have had other uses. Our briefing also described the resident huge moray eel named “George” who was known to frequent this wreck and who, we were told, will be found looking up to the wreck. The Guides were right and George was there to greet us. OMG… this was an eel to remember. As you can see in the photos attaching this article, the eel was huge. With no narcosis to blame, I estimate it must have been all of 4m in length and the width of its main body (narrow point on the spine) seen from above was about the distance from the tip of your thumb to the tip of your small finger. It was resting underneath a bit of wreckage with only a small part of its head (and neck if you can call it as such) jutting out.

We also found later that George was not on his own, and another eel was found on the other side of the barge, a bit more shy this time and smaller, but still a large eel compared to Malta’s standard ones J. We decided to call her Georgette and who knows… maybe it was his girlfriend. Apart from the skeleton of the barge, the site itself proved to be an aquarium full of different fish and we enjoyed it to the max, decompressing a bit from wrecks and still enjoying the huge variety and colour of life here in the Red Sea. Having gone past the midpoint of this trip, there were still great dives lined up, complete with wrecks and as you’ll see from the next article, even some bigger mammals and fish J

66 Baby Turtles hatch at Golden Bay

I was privileged to be part of the team of Volunteers efficiently set up by Nature Trust Malta to monitor the Turtle Nest in Golden Bay over the summer months.

The turtle that nested in Golden Bay was a loggerhead turtle (il-fekruna l-komuni), scientifically known as Caretta caretta, which is a long-living, slowly maturing marine species that inhabits tropical to warm temperate areas. It is classified as globally endangered by the World Conservation Area (IUCN) and also protected by legislation. “Capturing, killing, taking, and trading these turtles, as well as the deliberate disturbance of these species, particularly during the period of breeding, rearing and migration, is prohibited and subject to legal action.” Implementing this legislation was vital to the successful hatching of the turtles. Although I only covered two shifts, afternoon and early morning , the happy feeling of contributing to such a successful outcome of the hatching of 66 baby turtles, is one to be shared with fellow diver friends who have a love of the sea and its inhabitants. Karen from Nature Trust (Malta) Wildlife Rescue Team captures the sense of commitment of the volunteers in her e mail, which parts I would like to share with readers of Bubbles magazine:

Enclosed area at Glden Bay to protect the nest

“……. As you all know, the turtle nested on the 1st of August and in the following weeks …our task was to watch and protect that nest against all threats, ….. We have received many positive emails and comments about our work with this nesting and about our volunteers on site. You made NTM very, very proud with your diligence and professional and yet very friendly interaction with the public! I really wish that each of you could have been there during those early hours when the turtles hatched but unfortunately, it was just not possible. As soon as they started to hatch, I called Vince (CEO of Nature Trust) to start the notification ball rolling. He called the ERA, the Police and various other entities ….. There were a few eggs which had not hatched - and these eggs were never going to hatch. They were at the bottom of the nest and were undeveloped - and would not have developed, no matter how much time was allowed. Over 90% of the eggs laid had hatched. I counted them personally. … … the information that an excavated nest provides is invaluable both for data for the present nesting and for knowledge for the future. It has definitely not been an easy road at times … … - light pollution, discos, weddings, fireworks, music festivals, sunbed issues, regulations etc - the list is long! Yet despite all these difficulties and after 8 weeks of you all sitting in the heat of the sun, the cool of the night, the rain, the wind and the thunderstorms, we were finally rewarded by the gift of over 60 hatchlings scrambling out of the nest and making their way out to sea. Many nests never hatch. That we have the first recorded hatching in over 100 years in Malta is a testament to YOUR dedication and endurance. …I learned about people power too …. a group of over 200 complete strangers from different countries with different backgrounds and even different lifestyles coming together for a common cause has made a huge, positive and vital contribution to the conservation of an endangered protected species. … Nature Trust (Malta) thanks each and every one of you for your dedication and perseverance and support … … a very big WELL DONE to you all - you should be proud of your achievement :) Karen, For Nature Trust (Malta), Wildlife Rescue Team”

Article & photos by Elaine Cutajar

Volunteering is a very rewarding experience. Many of us have experienced snorkelling and diving with turtles when on holidays and one can only hope that one day we will be so lucky to meet a turtle swimming in our beautiful sea. To learn more about how to help turtles in distress while diving and to become a volunteer with Nature Trust please contact

Nature Trust on kareng@onvol.net and cc info@naturetrustmalta.org.

99 999 505 Help Us to Help Them

How to help a TURTLE in distress

One of the questions we are frequently asked by members of the public is what a person should do if encountering a turtle injured or in difficulty.

Nature Trust’s Wildlife Rescue Team consists of volunteers and veterinary surgeons dealing with the rescue and rehabilitation of various protected and endangered species found in Malta. It is illegal to handle any protected species without a permit - all members of the team have the required permit from the ERA. The Team is fully trained by our Veterinary Surgeons in the rescue and rehabilitation of turtles. In addition we are trained by the UK’s BDMLR in the handling and/ or stranding of dolphins and whales (cetaceans) found injured or in difficulty in Maltese waters.

If the turtle is on the surface and doesn’t fully dive away when approached, there is something wrong, whether illness or injury. It needs to be brought in so that our Vets can have a look. Always bear in mind that a turtle’s beak can inflict serious injury so handling awareness is essential. If a turtle is spotted in difficulty underwater, try to bring slowly to the surface and once on the surface bring slowly towards the shore - turtles are air-breathing and should never be held under the water. Make sure that the turtle is safe and then call

our emergency rescue line on

99 999 505 (The team is on call 24/7 for marine rescue).

When we receive a marine rescue call out, we will also be able to give you specific advice on what to do until we get there but generally we advise :

l Whether found off or on shore, once on

land cover with a damp towel to keep it calm. l Never pull any fishing line coming out of a turtle’s mouth or rear end - this WILL result in severe internal injuries and subsequent death. l Never try to remove an embedded hook - this should be done only by a qualified veterinary surgeon to avoid further injury. l Never cut any entanglement - cutting away entanglement can result not only in further injury to the area entangled but also in a blood clot which can be fatal. l Never put a turtle on to its back to stop it from moving - this can cause the animal to develop severe respiratory problems.

With regard to cetaceans, we are mostly called out to dolphins although we have had a couple of call outs to entangled whales. For an injured or stranded cetacean, timing is critical - the best thing to do is to call us immediately and give as much information as possible, particularly location, coordinates if at sea and any injuries noted. The team also attend call outs to turtles and cetaceans which are reported as already dead. This is firstly to ascertain that the animal is in fact dead and then to take biometrics and photos – and if the animal has died fairly recently, to arrange for a necropsy to ascertain a cause of death.

If you would like to know more about Nature Trust and it’s Wildlife Rescue Team, please feel free to email Karen (kareng@onvol.net)

Ras il-Ă&#x201C;obz | Gozo | 11.09.16

Photo: Mario Micallef

Dawret is-Sanap

| Gozo | 18.09.16

Photo: Joe Formosa Photo: Joe Formosa

Photo: Mario Micallef

Camma Caves

| Gozo | 25.09.16

Photo: Edward Vella

Photo: Veronica Busuttil

Photo: Edward Vella

Cathedral Cave | Gozo | 02.10.16

Photo: Edward Vella

Photo: Edward Vella Photo: Elaine Cutajar

Photo: Mario Micallef

Ă&#x201C;ekka Point | Malta | 09.10.16

Photo: Edward Vella

Photo: Elaine Cutajar